Publication

This paper looks at the Sino–Congolese mining joint venture, the so called Sicomines Agreement. The paper argues that the Sicomines episode represents both change and continuity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) international relations. Change, since it reflects how the power configurations of the global political economy have consolidated China’s position as a foreign policy actor. Continuity, since the 2009 amendment of the agreement, which came about partly as a result of China’s ambitions to take up an active role in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was to the benefit of the policy preferences of the IMF and the World Bank.